From left: Minister of Science Sebastian Gemkow, TUD Rector Prof. Ursula Staudinger, Prof. Andreas Pinkwart (Director TUD|excite), and the Minister for Regional Development Thomas Schmidt © Sven Claus

Excellent Research, Entrepreneurial Thinking: New Excellence Center "TUD|excite" Launched

With a ceremony on the TUD Campus and numerous prominent guests from science, politics, and industry in attendance, the new "TUD Excellence Center for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship – TUD|excite" was officially launched on October 20. Headed by Prof. Andreas Pinkwart – Chair of Innovation and Technology Management and long-time Minister for Science and Economy in North Rhine-Westphalia – it bundles TU Dresden's activities and services around knowledge and technology transfer, patents and spin-offs.

Prof. Hjalmar S. Kühl © private

University-Wide Inaugural Lecture on November 16: Prof. Hjalmar S. Kühl - On the Trail of Great Apes

Since 2022, Prof. Hjalmar S. Kühl has held the Chair of Vertebrate Zoology at IHI Zittau of TU Dresden and is Head of the Zoology Department at the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History in Görlitz. In his inaugural lecture, he will take the audience on a journey to our closest living relatives, the great apes and their interspecific diversity and culture, which must be preserved.
 

We fund internationalization! © PantherMedia/Frame Angel

Funding Program Internationalization | Open for Applications 2024

As of now, applications for establishing or extending existing international cooperations worldwide as well as those regarding the continued development of the strategic partnerships of TUD can be submitted. The internationalization funding program primarily aims to support projects for the establishment and extension of joint research projects and formats embedded in the strategic partnership work to increase the international visibility of our university. In addition, measures that improve the general conditions for the internationalization of TU Dresden can also be applied for.

© Christin Nitzsche

TUD Lectures in 2023/24 Winter Semester: United in Diversity – Perspectives on Inclusion and Successful Coexistence

Inclusion – is it kept in mind at all times? A wide variety of inclusion projects are offered in the TUD universe. Some of these initiatives available this winter semester will be presented during the TUD Lectures: TUD spin-offs that are focused on (digital) accessibility, the idea of a product design for everyone, highly automated driving as a contribution to society, and the role of the QuaBIS team at TUD. The next event will be held on November 29 at the COSMO Science Forum.

© University Hospital Dresden/Michael Kretzschmar

Out of the Dark – Into the Light: Exhibition on Cancer Medicine and Research

The exhibition 'Vom Schatten ans Licht – Moderne Krebsmedizin und Krebsforschung im Spiegel der Kunst' (Out of the Dark – Into the Light: Modern Cancer Medicine and Cancer Research Reflected in Art) invites you to explore the possibilities and advances in oncological research and therapy in a highly personal way. Therapeutic procedures and holistic approaches in cancer medicine and research are reflected in artworks such as drawings, paintings, pictorial objects as well as sculptural installations and a film essay. The exhibition was developed as a joint project by the National Center for Tumor Diseases Dresden (NCT/UCC), TUD Office for Academic Heritage, Scientific and Art Collections (Kustodie) and the Academy of Fine Arts Dresden. The exhibition was funded by the "TUD in Dialog" excellence measure among other parties.

© Sven Geise

Alumni Week with the TUD Alumni Ambassadors

In September, 19 international alumni from 18 countries, all Regional Ambassadors (RB) for the TUD, returned home to their alma mater for three days. Participants joyfully commemorated both the 15^th anniversary of the RB program, and discussed strategies for refreshing and strengthening it for the future. This included a discussion with TUD Rector Prof. Ursula Staudinger, as well as meetings with other international stakeholders of the university and Dresden Marketing.

© Juba Bouaziz/Ulrich Puhlfürst

Spinaron: A Rugby in a Ball Pit

For the first time, experimental physicists from the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter (ct.qmat) have demonstrated a new quantum effect aptly named the "spinaron". In a meticulously controlled environment and using an advanced set of instruments, they managed to prove the unusual state a cobalt atom assumes on a copper surface. This revelation challenges the long-held Kondo effect – a theoretical concept developed in the 1960s, and which has been considered the standard model for the interaction of magnetic materials with metals since the 1980s. These groundbreaking findings were published in the esteemed journal Nature Physics.

Prof. Giorgio Sangiovanni (r), Prof. Paul Pauli, President of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (l) © Robert Emmerich/JMU

Building Bridges in the Quantum World

Giorgio Sangiovanni specializes in the computational analysis of quantum materials. His expertise is essential for both experimental and theoretical physicists engaged in cutting-edge collaborative research, such as at the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat. He now heads the recently established Chair in Computational Quantum Materials at ct.qmat’s Würzburg branch, backed by EUR 1.5 million in funding from the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.

Dr. Anne Grapin-Bottom © MPI-CBG/Katrin Boes; Prof. Benjamin Friedrich © cfaed/Katharina Knaut

Two PoL Members are in the Newly Selected DFG Research Units

The members of the Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life (PoL), Prof. Benjamin Friedrich and Associate Member Dr. Anne Grapin-Botton, who serves as the Director of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), are part of the newly funded DFG research group, announced on September 22nd. The team consists of 12 outstanding scientists scattered across Germany. The research group "Deciphering the Role of Primary Cilia Dynamics in tissue organization and function" wants to determine how cells assemble into tissues and maintain them.

Dr. Xingbo Yang © PoL

The New Research Group at PoL Investigates the Energy Cost of Being Alive

Since April 2023, Dr. Xingbo Yang has been coordinating the research group "Bioenergetics of Self-Organization". The group aims to map the energy consumption of vital biological functions within a cell and how the energy flux is distributed in space and time. These results will not only help us understand the fundamental principles of the self-organization of living matter but will also provide insights into how metabolic defects play a role in diseases such as infertility, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Axolotl – the Mexican salamander with unique regenerative abilities helps scientists uncover the molecular mechanisms of regeneration. © TUD/CRTD

Senescent Cells Key to Axolotl Limb Regeneration

Senescent cells have been implicated in a variety of processes typically connected with deterioration and aging. Recent studies suggest that the short-term presence of senescent cells can actually be beneficial. A new comprehensive study by the Yun group at the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) shows that cellular senescence plays a critical role during axolotl limb regeneration. Senescent cells in the regenerating structure signal to surrounding cells and create a microenvironment that favors regeneration and growth. The results were published in the journal Developmental Cell.

An overview of how the method proposed by the Sieweke group boosts weak immune system. © EMBO

Boosting Weak Immune System: Scientists Find an Unusual Weapon Against Virus

Infections with cytomegalovirus (CMV) are extremely common and often pose no major threat to the vast majority of people. They can however be deadly for people whose immune system is weakened. Current treatments against CMV infections are very limited and can have severe side effects. Researchers led by Prof. Michael Sieweke at the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) and the Center of Immunology of Marseille Luminy (CIML) propose a new way to protect against CMV. Instead of targeting the virus, their approach boosts the weak immune system and lets it fight the virus on its own.

© Andreas Pfohl/NOZY Films

COVID-19 and Type 1 Diabetes: Researchers Find an Increase in Islet Autoimmunity in Young Children Who Had a SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease leading to an impaired glucose metabolism and requires life-long administration of insulin. While the cause of the autoimmunity reaction is still unclear, viral infections in young children are proposed to be critical environmental factors leading to type 1 diabetes. An international team of researchers from the Global Platform for the Prevention of Autoimmune Diabetes (GPPAD) now reports an increase in the incidence of islet autoimmunity in young children with a genetic risk for type 1 diabetes who had a SARS-CoV-2 infection. The findings were published in the journal JAMA.

The Makrophagen 2.0 team with Prof. Jochen Maas (Managing Director Research and Development at Sanofi Germany; l) and Tarek Al-Wazir (Hessian Minister of Economics; r) © Science4Life

Fourth Place for Makrophagen 2.0 at the Science4Life Start-up Competition

Makrophagen 2.0, a start-up initiative of researchers from TU Dresden is developing a new cell therapy using reprogrammed immune cells, the macrophages. The team was awarded an excellent fourth place at the Science4Life, Germany’s most prominent life science start-up competition.